City Nature Challenge 2024: Sherburne, NY的日誌

Wow - another day when rain was forecast, but we had mostly sunny skies, and the temps soared into the 70s with very high humidity. It felt like July!

But how grateful we were, for the insects were out (so many queen bees), and we even found our first snakes of the year (including an apparent hibernaculum where a whole bunch of them were emerging).

Warblers sang, grouse drummed, frogs and toads were calling - it was beautiful.

Even slogging through flooded trails, it was exciting, for we had our first physical frogs (not just sounds), and tiny little fish, trapped in the flood water.

Butterflies and warblers for the most part elluded our cameras. Sigh. But take our word for it: we saw red admirals galore, and butterbutts! Hears, I'm sure, a black-throated blue warbler, and Merlin said we had a black and white (while refusing to record the drumming of the ruffed grouse).

As of 7:45 this evening, we stand at (drumroll please):
747 observations (about 40 shy of last year)
372 species (36 more than last year!!)
36 observers (1 more than last year)

So keep loading your photos and data tonight. You actually have a few days to do it.

The next week is the time to identify what has been posted. If you feel knowledgeable, even a little bit, go on into the project and look at what folks have posted. If you agree with the identification, click the "agree" button. This helps bring the images up to research grade, so folks who are doing research can "cut to the chase" to collect data.

Stay tuned for the final details...and thank you for participating!

Weather-wise, today was interesting. The sun was up (-ish) at dawn, but clouds were around as well. The forecast was for rain most of the day, with some partial clouds in the morning. If we wanted to get out and not get wet, morning was our best option.

I headed to North Norwich to visit a new-to-me wetland. It did not disappoint! As soon as I got out of my car, a sandhill crane flew overhead. As soon as I turned on Merlin to see if any warblers were around, a sora called out!

After a couple hours, the sun was shining, the sky was blue, and I was shedding layers.

Met a birder along the way. Thanks to his eagle eyes, I got a bittern!

The landowner invited us to visit her island across the road, and when we did, we were blessed with a Grey Ghost - a male northern harrier.

I stopped at our Adams Farm property, hoping to pick up some dragonflies and maybe some more warblers, but my luck had run its course. After about 40 minutes, the rain started. I bagged my cameras and trudged back to the car. It was just as well - I was getting tired.

Advice: eat a good breakfast and don't let yourself get dehydrated!

I hope everyone else had some great finds today. As of 3:30 PM we are at:
495 observations (up 134 from yesterday)
277 species (up 58 from yesterday)
24 observers (up 8 from yesterday)

Tomorrow is the last day. I know it's a Monday, and many of you will be at work, but I hope you can get outside for a bit and add some more data to our project!

The early sunlight was a ruse - the temperature dropped throughout the day, and the wind picked up as the clouds moved in. Rain is in the offing.

Still, we have folks out collecting data! I headed to Round Pond and picked up a lot of mosses and lichens, and even a few moths. Heard my first black-throated green warbler of the season, too. But did not see or hear the sandhill cranes that are supposedly nesting there. If you head that way and can get them, awesome!

We are currently at 361 observations (2023 total was 786), 219 species (336 in 2023), and 16 observers (35 in 2023). I'm hoping the nicer weather on Sunday and Monday will boost our numbers - more people out and about and more flowers open, insects out, etc.

Keep on going this afternoon, everyone, and don't forget to add some night-time observations if you can!

It was a beautiful day. Started off with frost and a bit of a nip in the air, but the sun was out all day and my car registered a high of 64.

My high points were a Wilson's Snipe first thing this morning, and great photos of a palm warbler and a ruby-crowned kinglet. I was able to get some wonderful photos of flies, too, and found one dusky salamander. Added a beaver and a family of eagles to my tally, too.

Our score as of 7 PM stands at 223 observations, 155 species, and 7 observers. And this is just the first day.

Don't forget to go out in the evening - get those frogs, and the wetland birds. And owls!!!

Have a great day tomorrow!